Understanding Social Media Optimization

Social Media Optimization, or SMO, is the use of techniques and strategies to promote a brand on social media in ways that help drive customer engagement. Social media has become one of the best assets for improving a company’s organic (non-paid) search results and utilizing SMO greatly increases these results.

If you are looking to drive business from your social media accounts, simply having the accounts is not enough. This is where SMO comes in. SMO can enhance your company’s online presence and reputation, strengthen the brand, boost visibility and generate leads. Social media includes more than just Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: it is also includes other outlets like Pinterest, Google+ and blogs.

How will SMO help my brand’s social content achieve more?

Post at optimal times: Knowing when to post content is they key to getting more likes, favorites, shares and more engagement on any social network. When you post at optimal times, that means you are posting when the most users can be expected to engage with your content. Research shows there are optimal times to post for each different social network. The best times to post will vary by industry and change with relevant news regarding industry trends. Read more about that here.

Include links: Your website should always include links to your social media pages, and those social media pages should always link back to the website. Social media content can include links to your homepage, blog or other specific pages that you want visitors to go to. Including a link to your homepage in the bio of your social profile helps visitors easily access your website. A link should also be included (especially on blogs) to give readers the ability to share your content, allowing you to reach a wider audience.

Engagement drives engagement: Practice what you preach! You want people to follow you? Follow others. You want people to like your posts? Like other posts. It’s simple. When you are engaging with your audience, they are more likely to notice your profile and reciprocate. The more engaged you are with your audience and other social media users, the more your profile will stand out.

Post compelling content: The content you post should not only be relevant to your business, but also to your customers. Know your audience and post content that they will have the desire to read and engage with. Posting “call to action” content is one way to drive engagement. Call to action means you are asking your audience to do something. It can be as simple as writing a question in your caption and asking them to comment with their answer or more complex like asking them to click a link to go to your website and fill out a form. Viewers are more likely to do what you ask if you have the instructions written out, rather than if you have no call to action.

Keywords and hashtags: It is important to use keywords and hashtags to your improve your exposure. Hashtags categorize social content. They allow you to connect with and engage other users based on a common interest. When you use hashtags, you want to be specific. The more specific you are, the more you are targeting a certain audience. Using relevant keywords in your blog or social media posts is also important because search engines pick up on those.

Using SMO helps customers build familiarity and trust with your brand. It also helps drive more traffic to your website, which can ultimately increase brand awareness and sales. You can point your customers where you want them to go by sharing different links with calls to action.

In order to improve your SMO, follow the points above. Focus on engaging with your social audience by contributing to conversations, liking posts and having a presence. All of this can be done organically, without having to reach for your wallet. Consistency is key when dealing with SMO. Keep up with it and you will see results. If you want to see results faster, you should consider paid options like paid campaigns or Pay Per Click.

SMO is also connected with Search Engine Optimization. As stated earlier, SMO contributes to improving your search results. To learn more about SEO, click here. Together, the results from these organic efforts will help grow your business.